proverb
      n : a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important
          fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
          [syn: adage, saw, byword]


 Proverb
    a trite maxim; a similitude; a parable. The Hebrew word thus
    rendered (mashal) has a wide signification. It comes from a root
    meaning "to be like," "parable." Rendered "proverb" in Isa.
    14:4; Hab. 2:6; "dark saying" in Ps. 49:4, Num. 12:8. Ahab's
    defiant words in answer to the insolent demands of Benhadad,
    "Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he
    that putteth it off," is a well known instance of a proverbial
    saying (1 Kings 20:11).